Heard Laboratories is a sonic ethnography of scientific research environments

at Harvard University, made using Schoeps cardioid mics in ORTF stereo
configuration and a Sound Devices audio recorder. The sounds of equipment,
devices, and activities draw attention to the physical processes underlying
scientific research, the work underway which provides a ground for our highly
technologized society. In the name of human progress, enormous resources
are devoted to and consumed by such activities, which are both hidden and
taken for granted. Heard Laboratories brings this background to the fore.

Heard Laboratories is a largely abstract soundscape, consisting of edited
sequences of unprocessed location recordings. The liner notes list edit points,
along with descriptions of the research each laboratory is engaged in, so that
the listener may follow along and know what kind of laboratory they are hearing
at any given moment.

The work does not take a position with respect to what is documented, and
neither endorses nor criticizes the research programs of the laboratories which
granted access.